Puppet MastersS


Nuke

US officials defend Trump's 'nuclear button' tweet


RT
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 23:22 UTC
Trumpkim
© BBC
Almost a week on, US officials are still cleaning up the fallout from President Donald Trump's "bigger nuclear button" tweet, but America's UN envoy and the CIA director are both arguing it's all for the sake of peace.

Throughout the week, major drama has been unfolding around threats of mutually assured destruction between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. In his New Year address, Kim declared North Korea to be a nuclear power whose symbolic "red button" is ready and capable of striking the continental US. Trump, in his usual self, took Kim's statements to heart, tweeting Tuesday that his button is "much bigger & more powerful" than North Korea's, and one that actually works.

Officials from Trump's administration scrambled to defend the president from journalists questioning his "mental fitness" and US strategy on North Korea. On Sunday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and CIA Director Mike Pompeo backed Trump in separate interviews.

Comment: Content aside, Trump and Kim are engaging each other in a form of 'conversation.' The Hero Syndrome - they both have it.

See also:

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Handcuffs

Judge dismisses case against rancher after mistrial - Cliven Bundy goes free


RT
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 20:22 UTC
cliven bundy
© David Becker / Agence France-PresseRancher Cliven Bundy speaks during a news conference near his ranch on April 24, 2014 in Bunkerville, Nevada
Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons were released by a federal judge in Las Vegas, after she dismissed with prejudice all charges against them. Prosecutors' failure to disclose evidence had led to a mistrial.

US District Court Judge Gloria Navarro ruled Monday that the government committed "flagrant prosecutorial misconduct" in the process against Bundy and his sons in relation to the 2014 armed standoff with federal agents over grazing rights.

Federal prosecutors willingly withheld evidence from defense attorneys, violating the Brady rule, Navarro said. She dismissed all charges against the Bundys and their co-defendant Ryan Payne "with prejudice," meaning that the government will not be able to prosecute the case again.

"A universal sense of justice was violated," Navarro said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Comment:

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Oscar

Bannon makes apology: "Donald Trump Jr. is a patriot and a good man" - says comments were directed at Paul Manafort

Tyler Durden
Zero Heedge
Sun, 07 Jan 2018 19:33 UTC
stave Bannon
With President Trump lashing out via twitter again this morning at the "Fake Book" - referring, obviously, to Michael Wolff's Fire And Fury as he departed Camp David, the news coverage of the book's contents is set to continue into its second week.

And as the president works the phones, demanding that his political allies help him bury "Sloppy Steve" in retaliation for his former chief strategist's disloyalty, Bannon is now desperately trying to get back in the president's good graces.

In recent days, The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have run stories about Bannon's political allies and patrons distancing themselves from the Breitbart executive and former Trump campaign chairman. The billionaire Mercer family told the Times that it has retracted all financial backing for Bannon and that they're weighing whether to fire Bannon from his role as executive chairman at Breitbart. They reportedly have stopped payment on his personal security detail.

Comment: The Duran comments:
It may have taken days for Steve Bannon to walk back his disparaging comments documented in Michael Wolff's book Fire and Fury, with a Sunday apology aimed at winning back the trust of POTUS Trump and his family...but it did not take US President Trump long to swipe away Bannon's peace offering, as Trump aides describe the president demanding a stark choice from supporters of both men: you're either with Bannon, or with me.

Of course Trump has all the leverage, he is the US President, and conservatives are overwhelmingly backing the President over Bannon.

Bannon lost big time, and now it is in Trump's hands, when and if he will forgive Bannon's disloyalty.

Bloomberg reports...
Trump's aides are tracking who came out with full-throated criticism of Bannon over the weekend, and they put out the word that the president is keeping score.

Trump remains irritated over losing the first week of the year to titillating excerpts from the book "Fire and Fury" by Michael Wolff, which is focused on the president and his dysfunctional White House.

One person who was judged as being insufficiently critical of Bannon was David Bossie, president of Citizens United. On Friday night, Bossie came out with a forceful condemnation of Bannon, his longtime friend, in an op-ed in the Washington Post.

Bannon may have hoped his statement would begin to put the episode behind him. A half dozen sources describe almost the exact opposite: Trump remains angry at the disloyalty of his former strategist, and is forcing a him-or-me moment inside Trump World and the Republican Party as a whole.

"I don't know if it's ever repairable," said Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, who has been friends with Bannon for two decades. "These wounds are pretty deep."
And from ThinkProgress:
Since this news broke, Bannon has found himself increasingly alone in the world. Trump put out a statement claiming that his former chief strategist "has nothing to do with me or my Presidency" and that Bannon "spent his time at the White House leaking false information to the media to make himself seem far more important than he was."

The wealthy Mercer family, which has funded Bannon's work in the past and owns a stake in Breitbart News, suggested in their own statement that he is dead to them. "I support President Trump and the platform upon which he was elected," Rebekah Mercer said. "My family and I have not communicated with Steve Bannon in many months and have provided no financial support to his political agenda, nor do we support his recent actions and statements."

Even Bannon's job at Breitbart may be in danger. Mercer noted her equity interest in the publication, which has close ties to the so-called "alt-right" and white nationalism, in her statement - a move many interpreted as an implicit threat to fire Bannon.


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Mr. Potato

Nikki Haley defends Trump's sanity

Amy Moreno
Truthfeed
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 19:32 UTC
nikki haley defending trump
On Sunday, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley appeared on ABC's "This Week."

She was asked about discredited liberal author Michael Wolff and his new (fan fiction) book "Fire and Fury," which supposedly "raises questions" about President Trump's mental stability.

Comment: Dear Nikki probably wasn't the best person to defend the President's mental fitness or ability to govern: Someone with a bit more credibility weighs in: Dr. Keith Ablow: Donald Trump is "stone cold sane"

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Propaganda

Another reason the MSM is losing their reputation - #Fakenews on Iran and Egypt


Moon of Alabama
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 18:43 UTC
Fake News
© DDL Gambaro
The "western" media like to rant against fake news. But they are indeed the biggest provider of such.

Yesterday the British news agency Reuters claimed: Iran bans English in primary schools after leader's warning
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran has banned the teaching of English in primary schools, a senior education official said, after the country's Supreme Leader said early learning of the language opened the way to a Western "cultural invasion".
Kamenei indeed has made such a remark, early learning of a foreign language opens the people to influence through that language. That conclusion is not particular controversial. But has Iran really banned the teaching of English in primary schools? Why would any non-English country teach English in primary school in the first place? And why would especially Iran do so?
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Arrow Up

Syrian intelligence responsible for massive explosion that killed and wounded dozens of terrorists in Idlib

Paul Antonopoulos
Fort Russ News
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 19:47 UTC
Massive explosion in Idlib
Massive explosion in Idlib, Syria
In the capital of the Syrian Islamists, the city of Idlib, a very powerful explosion took place yesterday with local activists report about two dozen killed and over 30 wounded as a result of the terrorist attack, as reported by FRN yesterday.

However, since the last FRN report, it has been revealed that the Syrian intelligence was responsible for the attack that killed and wounded dozens of terrorists, according to Syrian reports.
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Snakes in Suits

CIA Director Pompeo says there is 'no deep state' at CIA

Pam Key
Breitbart
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 19:09 UTC
CIA Director Mike Pompeo
© Greg NashCIA Director Mike Pompeo
Sunday on CBS's "Face The Nation," CIA Director Mike Pompeo said there was "no" deep state in the CIA.

Partial transcript as follows: DICKERSON: The president also tweeted about the deep state. Is there a deep state at the CIA?
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Bad Guys

Please stop talking about Ahed Tamimi's hair

Jonathan Ofir
Mondoweiss
Sat, 06 Jan 2018 17:46 UTC
Ahed Tamimi
© David KattenburgAhed Tamimi
In the past three weeks, following the famous slapping of an Israeli soldier by Ahed Tamimi of Nabi Saleh, the remarks about Ahed's looks have gained extra momentum.

These remarks have often been disparaging ones. They are generally meant to suggest that there is really no content to the 'hype' around Ahed - that her appeal and impact are only really about how she looks, not what she is. Such notions basically render the whole context of Ahed's situation, the situation of Nabi Saleh, the occupation and the oppression, to be a mere 'photo-op' which serves the 'Palestinian narrative'.

Whilst less disparaging and more nuanced remarks about Ahed's look have been made, we must realise the danger of such focus upon external appearance. It risks diverting our attention from the very serious issues at hand.

Comment:

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Георгиевская ленточка

"60 Minutes" interview with RT's editor-in-chief on election meddling, being labeled Russian propaganda


CBS
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:40 UTC
Margarita Simonyan
© CBS NewsMargarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT
"There's nothing illegal that we did...nothing murky," says Margarita Simonyan, who dismisses the U.S. intelligence report that says the Russian news network she heads meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election

It's widely accepted that Vladimir Putin used disinformation warfare to interfere in our 2016 presidential campaign - but how exactly did he do it? Well, according to a U.S. intelligence report one of his weapons was a Russian television network called RT. It stands for Russia Today, and you can find it on many of our cable or satellite systems -- just like any other news outlet.

We recently went to Moscow to meet with the head of RT, Margarita Simonyan. We arrived just as the Justice Department was insisting that RT register as a foreign agent in the United States under an 80-year-old law enacted to expose Nazi propaganda. And Simonyan was scalding mad.

Comment: CBS, like the good little MSM minion it is, puts a dark spin on all Ms.Simonyan's forthright answers via its narration. And notice how Stahl sidesteps the question of the Iraq war lies, and the bombing of Yugoslavia without UN sanction. Simonyan's got her dead to rights on those points and she knows it.

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Red Flag

Russian military repels militant drone attack on Syrian compounds, attackers may have been aided by "technologically advanced state"


RT
Mon, 08 Jan 2018 16:28 UTC
Khmeimim airbase Syria
© SputnikThe Khmeimim airbase in Syria
Russian military have repelled a massive drone attack on its bases in Syria, which was carried out by militants, Moscow said. The extremists may have been aided by a "technologically advanced state," it added.

The militants launched their assault during the night on Saturday, the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Kheimim Airbase in the Syrian Latakia province was attacked by 10 unmanned combat aerial vehicles, while three more attempted a strike against the Russian maritime logistics base located in the city of Tartus.

All of the drones were detected by anti-aircraft defense systems "at a considerable distance from the Russian military objects," the ministry said. Seven of them were then successfully shot down by the Russian Panzir-S air-defense system.

Comment: That the extremists may have been aided by a "technologically advanced state" suggests another attempt by the Empire of Chaos to salvage its Syrian operation..

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